Now It's My Time

[SvenLittkowski]

Finally I designed and built my own glove box! The hexagonal design happened because I wanted easy angles for how to put my arms inside the box.

Having finally my own glove box, I felt it was a good time to boldly go where I never went before: germinating orchids! I found this instruction for the orchid germination medium on the Internet (source: search the Internet for "dokmai dogma - How to grow orchids from seeds – kitchen style").


90 ml Water
4 g Mashed Peeled Banana
1 g Agar Agar
2 g Sugar (I use icing sugar dust instead)
10 ml Fresh Peeled Crushed Tomatoes (I use 12,5 g tomato paste instead)
0.12 g Thiamine (Powderized Vitamin B Tablets)

But instead of fresh tomatoes, I used tomato paste. Where other mediums are almond-colored, my on e has the pleasant color of a brick red. But I hope, it does its job the same good as other germination mixtures. It is my very first attempt.

I boil my mixture in a steam pressure cooking pot for 30 minutes (I gave that longer time to make sure to kill any bacteria or fungus) to fully sterilize.
I kept in pot until next day, and then closed the lids.
I kept bottles in clean supermarket bags (the transparent ones from the vegetable department) to avoid surface contamination.

And now I am waiting 5 to 6 days with seed propagation, in order to check if no bad fungus or bacteria came in.

I want to try germinating vanilla seeds. But how to sterilize the vanilla? I don't want that the seeds bring any bad fungus or bacteria into the germination mixture. Who has an answer for me? Also: can a vanilla bean from the supermarket be used as germination candidate?

Any advices, suggestions or hints? Comments are welcome, too. Thanks.

After the seeds have been placed on the surface of the germination mixture and the lids are closed, I will use candle wax to seal the lid area against any unwanted infestation of fungus or bacteria. But for now I will test them for one week for any unwanted invaders. The wetness on the glass is caused by the spraying of hydrogen peroxide to sterilize the box from the inside.

QUESTIONS

How to avoid that the seeds carry any unwanted bacteria or fungus inside the flasks? is there any way to sterilize the seeds, too?

Instead of sugar, I used icing sugar because it is much easier to mix. Should I use icing sugar?

Instead of fresh tomato, I used tomato paste. Could that cause any problems?

Can I use hydrogen peroxide to sterilize the box from the inside?

How long do you keep the filled flasks for contamination test before putting the seeds inside?

[plumania]

I do not know anything about growing orchids from seeds but I do know kitchen stuff.
Icing sugar is actually finely powdered sugar mixed with anti caking agent. There are several types of anti caking agents.
If you google, wikipedia has info about icing sugar and anti caking agents that are used.

Similarly, tomato paste has stuff mixed in pureed tomato . Often it may have salt, oils mixed in. Fresh tomato is cooked to the point of evaporating most of water from the puree (to get the consistency of paste)and in the process it probably kills several enzymes, nutrients that are heat sensitive and also alters chemicals nature of tomato. Then it sits in tube/containers mixed with stuff to prolong shelf life and flavor etc. Stays in store until someone buys it.
So, there will be a difference in fresh vs paste ,store bought or homemade.

[SvenLittkowski]

Thanks, that answer is a good one.

[OCRC_Dir_China]

90 ml Water
4 g Mashed Peeled Banana
1 g Agar Agar
2 g Sugar (I use icing sugar dust instead)
10 ml Fresh Peeled Crushed Tomatoes (I use 12,5 g tomato paste instead)
0.12 g Thiamine (Powderized Vitamin B Tablets)

A basic formula now lets look at it;
The water should be distilled water, now I have in a pinch used a high end no mineral bottle water and done well.
Banana is a very complex vitamin source and trace minerals source.
Agar is used as a gelling agent.
Sugar and powdered sugar are different in composition and molar weight, I would call powered sugar unbeneficial, and standard white granular table sugar is a better choice.
Canned tomato contains many other ingredients’ and so would be unsuitable choice to fresh tomatoes.
B-Tablets contain other trace elements and a binder to hold it all together and many be flavored coated or color for ascetics, so it would be unsuitable.

The formula is brought to a genital rolling boil in a sauce pan, and must be constantly mixed in the pan as you fill your flask.


Now most all vitro formulas are for one litter batches. There are many basic formulas easy to make, this formula is easy too.
Banana formula
Agar 9 grams
Sucrose 20 grams (Or common white granular table sugar)
Banana 40 gram (About half a banana)
Potato 20 gram (Common white potato about the size of a wall nut or gulf ball)
Distilled water one litter

Take the banana and potato put in a blender and pure use just enough of the one litter distilled water so it will poor out of the blender. Heat all to a gentle rolling boil remove from heat source. You must keep mixing it as you poor it into your flasks, then autoclave uncapped or a aluminum foil cap, (Safety reasons bottle can burst) for 30 to 45 minuets. Let cool under sterol conditions sow seeds or protocorms seal growth vessel and hope for the best when it comes to bacteria pollution.

I hope that this helps you

[SvenLittkowski]

Thanks, I will try out that recipe, too! All I need now again are orchid seeds since I used up my own ones... :-(

[SvenLittkowski]

After some weeks, there are new developments which I want to bring to you all here now.

Of the eight flasks, three had to go into Nirvana because there were contaminated with fungus. But five of the flasks are clean up to now.

Inside one of these five flasks, I believe to see tiniest dots of ... green? And not (yet?) more than a fraction of a mm big.

Please have a look by yourself, and tell me what you think. Could that be embryonic orchids?

[OCRC_Dir_China]

Green is good, you have germination.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Congratulations. How fun to see the first ones start.

[SvenLittkowski]

Thanks a lot, everyone! More photos will come as development (hopefully) continues.

[OCRC_Dir_China]

Keep us informed; I would like to hear how they are doing.